Growing Up

I finally had a weekend with time for myself! This summer has been a bit of a disaster by pretty much any definition, but I'm cautiously optimistic that things are back on an upswing and we will return to a nice, boring, normal :) I really like having a predictable schedule and feel all out of sorts when things don't allow for that.

Anyway, what did I do with my first normal week since June, you ask? Here's a hint: I'm updating this blog so there were horses involved!

I got Sophie out a few times and she was an absolute star. Honestly, as far as I was concerned she would have had a free pass to be a complete nightmare, given I don't think we left the property at all during the rest of the month of August. But no, she seemed as excited to get out and back to work as I was and there were zero dramatics beyond her standard level of playfulness.

I'm still waiting on the saddle that fits her to come back from repairs so there was no actual sitting on her. However, I rehashed all the prep work you'd expect and she was pretty chill with it all. She's super at lining herself up with the fence or mounting block now too, which is pretty fun. She's a smart little cookie, given we last visited that concept well over a month ago, and just the once.

She's starting to get a lot softer as far as giving to the bit as well. I'm not sure she's a fan of the snaffle that I'm currently using, so that's another piece of tack that's going to get traded out before I ride or more immediately, proceed with further long lining. For now we just do big sweeping turns and the standard flexions baby horses need to understand before you hop on.

I'm still open to sending her to a trainer, but we haven't hit a spot yet where I don't feel confident and comfortable with our progress. So, we continue on. She's definitely a little spooky and silly and quick thinking, but she's also very kind and tries hard so I've yet to feel like any of it is beyond me. I really got lucky with her!

As for Bridget, she got a spa day and a quick ride. Despite wanting things to be normal and to catch up on all the things, I caught some sort of death plague in the city last weekend and so there was a limit to my energy and ambition this week. Luckily, Bridget is good at matching my energy level and wasn't overly fussed about getting the shorter end of the stick attention wise. She's out in a little field and is perfectly content picking away at the bits of vegetation when she's not sleeping, just living her best life.

Onwards we go...I'm feeling really excited about the future!